Cyber Incident Victim: St. Louis County Police
Date:
Aug 2014
Location:
United States of America
Summary
A cyberattack targeting the St. Louis County Police disrupted their website and email systems, rendering them inaccessible for multiple days. The distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS) attack coincided with protests following the fatal shooting of an unarmed teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, with hackers purportedly affiliated with Anonymous claiming responsibility. The group asserted it obtained and publicly released police dispatch recordings from the incident while also disseminating misinformation by falsely identifying an individual as the involved officer, which law enforcement promptly refuted. The attack amplified tensions surrounding the protests, leading to the suspension of the hackers' primary communication channel on social media. Impacts included prolonged service outages and unauthorized disclosure of operational data.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 1 motive | 2 techniques |
| Threat Actor | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 1 actor | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
The St. Louis County Police Department's website and email systems became inaccessible starting Wednesday, August 13, 2014, following a distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. Police confirmed the cyberattack to multiple news outlets, stating their systems remained offline through Thursday, August 14. The attack coincided with escalating protests over the fatal shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown by a Ferguson, Missouri, police officer on Saturday, August 9. Hackers, presumed to be protesting law enforcement's handling of the incident, targeted the department amid public outcry over Brown's death and the delayed release of the involved officer's identity. On Wednesday, a group claiming affiliation with the hacktivist collective Anonymous announced it had breached St. Louis County Police systems to obtain dispatch audio recordings from the day of the shooting. The group published purported details from police communications via its @TheAnonMessage Twitter account and uploaded hours of dispatch tapes to YouTube.
The cyberattack disrupted public access to police digital services while enabling the dissemination of unverified information. On Thursday, August 14, the same group claimed to have identified the officer involved and tweeted an individual's name, prompting St. Louis County Police to publicly refute the claim via Twitter, stating the named person was not affiliated with their department or Ferguson Police. Twitter subsequently suspended the @TheAnonMessage account, though the company declined to comment on the action when contacted by media. The DDoS attack's primary operational impacts included sustained website downtime and email service interruptions, impairing routine communications. Meanwhile, the release of dispatch recordings and erroneous identification attempts exacerbated tensions between protesters and law enforcement, illustrating how physical demonstrations extended into digital confrontations during the crisis.